Cinnamon Shore Travel Guide

Cinnamon Shore, AKA my new happy place! I have been putting off writing this post because it makes me sad that I am not there, LOL. So let’s start off by saying that I have always been hesitant to travel to Texas beaches and never been super impressed with the water/towns compared to Florida. After visiting Seaside FL, I didn’t think anything would ever compare but boy was I wrong. Patrick and I had planned to go to San Diego/LA for our 2nd anniversary but obviously with COVID, that wasn’t gonna happen. I wanted to go somewhere in Texas that wasn’t a big city where we could just relax and explore somewhere new. I follow 2 bloggers who had shared their families traveling to Cinnamon Shore in late May and I immediately googled it and literally booked our 1 bedroom condo within 30 minutes of researching and calling to ask allll my questions haha. Good thing I booked on such a whim because they are almost booked up through July/August! So crazy! I feel like I found a hidden gem that might not be hidden for much longer because this is THE cutest place I have ever been in Texas by far. It is 2nd best to Seaside but with the location and ease of getting there faster, it’s almost tied in my opinion. I also love that it is less touristy and busy than Seaside, especially during this time.

When booking, we booked directly on their website: www.cinnamonshore.com and searched for 1 bedroom condos. It is definitely a very big family friendly place with houses/condos and town homes to rent. It is on the pricy side but I think it is SO worth every penny because of the amenities, organization and overall cuteness lol. I want to share some of our favorite spots, what we ordered and why we want to go back every year from now on haha! We also can’t wait to take our kids here someday, we were one of few couples there without children but it would be great either way! Super family friendly or great for a getaway for couples, friends or even for a bachelorette trip! I am going to break it down by must do’s, eats and other helpful tips when traveling to CS! Here are some pics from our adorable condo:

Must do’s when visiting Cinnamon Shore:

1. Rent their beach chairs and umbrellas for beach days! It saved us so much effort and time because when you arrive to the beach, your chairs and umbrellas are already set up with your name on it! It is $35 a day I believe and so worth it! Not to mention, they are the cutest beach chairs and umbrellas ever! We booked those directly with CS!
   
   
2. Golf cart rental! 10/10 recommend. We rented it for 2 out of the 4 days we were there and honestly we regretted not getting it for every day. I can’t believe I have never been to a beach that does this. It is the most genius idea ever. No more lugging all your beach necessities, kids toys, bags, food by foot. It literally saves so much time and makes the whole experience even more fun. Our favorite part was doing night rides on the beach in our golf cart. We brought this portable speaker and listened to it in our cart! We rented through Top Deck golf carts which CS recommends. They literally dropped our golf cart off and texted us that it was at our condo and left the keys, so efficient and organized! The golf cart we rented was about $120/day and fits up to 6 people(we obviously had plenty of space haha).
   
3. Enjoy the live music, lawn games and scenery! They have live music on Wednesdays and maybe one other night a week along with movie nights on the lawn for kids(the whole lawn area feels just like Seaside no joke). There is also a snow cone/candy truck, so cute!
   
   
   
4. Enjoy the beach but also the pools were one of our favorite parts! There are 3 pools, Dune, Stiillwater and Keira’s. We never made it to the stillwater pool(it is the smallest one) but we loved the other 2. Super clean, plenty of seating and lounge chairs and even free cabanas to relax and eat in! Also, not to mention the best pool food ever, but I’ll get to that in the food section haha. The pools stay open until 10 pm so we did a few night swims which was so fun and way less crowded.
   
5. Fish or walk along the boardwalk at the pond. There is an adorable little pavilion and you can rent fishing equipment from the front office for cheap! Walk around and dream of living in their beautiful homes! Also, there is a fun area with outdoor games, chess, ring toss and more! Definitely check their schedule for events and free activities each day!
   
   
   

Must eats/drinks when visiting Cinnamon Shore:

1. COFFEE at Coffee Waves CS location! This is a new location and isn’t even on their website yet. Coffee waves has another bigger location in Port A that has more gelato/food options that we went to 2 times as well. But wow is this some good beach coffee. We walked to Coffee Waves every morning and I loved the iced vanilla latte and Patrick loved the caramel macchiato. We also loved their marble pound cake and gelato was yum too!
   
   
   
   
   
2. Dylan’s Pizza in CS! Such a fun atmosphere with tons of outdoor seating. We loved the pizza with goat cheese and sausage, the garlic knots, caesar salad and Italian donuts for dessert, SO yum!! It is also a great place to get take out and eat back at your place
3. Lisabella’s in CS! They are closed certain days of the week so make sure to check that before going! We made a reservation and ate at the bar. It is definitely on the higher price end but the food was so fresh and the atmosphere is adorable! It is right in the middle of CS near the live music! We ordered delicious cocktails(mine was a marg on the rocks of course!) crab cakes & garlic bread for the appetizer and seafood enchiladas and a seafood pasta for our entree. The seafood enchiladas were by far our favorite!
   
   
   
   
4. C Bar at Keira’s pool: by far best poolside food EVER! We ate here basically everyday for lunch in between the beach and the pool. It is the closest pool to the beach so it’s the perfect way to cool off and refresh after the sand. We loved ordering their frozen cocktails, my fav was the piña colada! For lunch, we basically tried everything and it was ALL good. We recommend splitting a meal since they are bigger and ordering an appetizer to save some $$. We loved the broiled shrimp appetizer, chips and queso, cheeseburger and fries and the fish tacos were UNREAL! Here is the best part, we were at the beach and a worker from C bar handed us a menu and said we could place an order over the phone and they would deliver food to where we were sitting at the beach….like literally seaside service. So what did we do? Ordered a kids hot dog, best decision ever haha!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Seafood & Spaghetti Works Restaurant: perfect date night or family night out spot! It was pretty busy and felt like a good local spot that is family owned. I loved the mango mojito! We both ordered seafood of course, Pat got the lemon shrimp and I got the blue cheese fish dish topped with bacon and all the goods.
6. Lelo’s Island Burgers: this was our first stop when arriving in Port A! It was soo delish! I was sold when I found out they serve their cocktails in tiki glasses, so fun! We ordered the island punch, cheese curds and the onion burger, freakin good!!

7. Black Marlin Grill: We accidentally went on a night they were only opened on the patio so make sure to check but this was maybe the best meal we had. They are famous for their shrimp and grits and they didn’t disappoint. We also ordered their seafood dip, margs on the rocks & fried shrimp, delish! It is also in a beautiful golf resort so it is definitely a must do!

Overall, we are obviously obsessed with Cinnamon Shore and already want to go back! Let me know if you decide to go, I’d love to hear how you like it or comment below if you have been before and tell me why you love it! I know this way realllly long haha but I wanted to give y’all all the deets to tell you about all of our favorite spots and must do’s! Don’t forget to check out their gift shop for cute souvenirs!!

Sad to leave CS haha!

Happy Travels! XOXO, LPOC